Community survey to be conducted to assist youth

On Feb 2, 2018

NIA — The Department of Community Development in the Nevis Island Administration is seeking the assistance of the public as it conducts a community baseline survey.

In keeping with its mandate of crime reduction and public safety, the Department of Community Development with funding assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is gearing up to implement a Community, Family and Youth Resilience (CFYR) programme that would contribute to this endeavour.

To implement the CFYR programme, a community baseline survey will be conducted to produce quantitative data as a guide to the nature of community initiatives that would pique the interest of youths aged 10 to 29. This will be done over the period of one week, February 2-10, 2018 in the parishes of St. Thomas’, St. John’s, and St. George’s. A workshop to equip field researchers who will facilitate the survey was held on Thursday, February 01, 2018 at the St. Paul’s Anglican Church Hall.

In an interview with the Department of Information, Mrs. Janette Nisbett-Meloney, Director of the Department of Community Development invited the public to be a part of the initiative, as it would aid the progression of the CFYR programme. She assured that confidentiality protocols will be observed.

“During that period, there will be persons called field researchers that will be coming to your homes and they will be asking you some questions. I want to let you know that it will be strictly confidential. They would have already signed an oath to say that whatever is said to them that they will have to keep it confidential. I am kindly imploring of you to open up your doors to them and answer the questions so that they can now use that data and better help your community,” she said.

Mrs. Janette Nisbett-Meloney further stated that the purpose of the CFYR Programme is to provide services for community upliftment and violence prevention.

“In the upcoming months, the data from the survey will be used to give greater insight as to what these communities need and there will be programmes that will be put in place in these communities for the holistic development of all community members…I am not saying that the other communities will not have some programmes, but these are the communities that were selected for now and so we may start with them first and then extend out to the other communities on the island of Nevis,” she said.